


Blue Moon

by Serenityinthestorm



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: F/M, I was 17 when I wrote this, Just letting it finally see the light of day, Romance, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 12:38:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14544921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serenityinthestorm/pseuds/Serenityinthestorm
Summary: And for once in his life, Yassen found himself helpless.





	Blue Moon

He had known her since they were orphaned street urchins. In the dark streets of Moscow, they begged and foraged for sustenance in rusty trash cans in the day. They stole and pickpocketed in the night. 

It was like a routine, albeit one necessary for their survival. Mutually, they guarded each other's backs during their risky night escapades. However, they were but children trying to survive in their harsh world, and screw-ups were bound to happen.

He remembered running through the streets with his sharp-but-not-yet-honed instincts screaming danger. She was ten minutes late for their rendezvous. And in his world, he knew that that ten minutes could mean many, many dreadful things. True enough, he heard a scream from a voice so familiar that he felt chilled to the bone. Weaving his way through the alleys, he tore out just in front of a man...

A man who was holding a gun to her head while his other hand reached greedily downwards. Before a coherent thought actually formed in his head, he lashed out, intuitively pivoting on his dominant leg while aiming a high-kick at the assailant's gun. And before the gun touched the floor, it was already in his hands, pointed towards towards the hostile target. 

And, before he even knew what he was doing, the bullet that had been fired from fifteen centimeters away was lodged in his chest. 

She froze as the bang resonated through the empty alley. Then she stared right at him, past the smoking barrel and gave him such a tearful smile that he momentarily forgot that he had just spilled his first blood. 

And now, she was standing right in front of him. 

When he was recruited by Scorpia, the same invitation had unfortunately not been extended to her. And so, at that crossroad, he had chosen to part ways. He could still picture her the hurt on her face, but more than anything else, her concern. Though it now seemed that fate had another idea. 

They were at a luxurious dinner hosted by a political party. Where there were politics, there was bound to be hatred, and that was exactly why Yassen was here. He, however, was not too sure how she came into the picture. 

She caught his eye, and cocked her head slightly. Years of relying on each other had allowed him to comprehend her in an instant. When she extracted herself from the grubby hold of a politician with a polite smile, he followed her wordlessly.

He trailed after her as she headed towards the direction of the washroom. After he rounded the last bend and found out that she was no longer in front of him, he was not surprised. Instead, he turned left and walked into the empty storage room used to keep unused plates and cutlery.

She simply looked at him as he locked the door silently. The night was still, and the air was quiet. In the dim lighting of the moonlight, they examined each other. 

'Yassen.' 

'Anna.' 

There was another round of silence. 

'How have you been doing?' It was a mundane question that she asked, but he knew better than to mistake the 'how' for 'what'. 

'How you think I have been doing.' He replied just as simply. 

She smiled humourlessly. He saw the flash in her eyes before he saw the dull glint of steel in the moonlight. Lucky for him, his sharpened reflexes allowed him to draw his weapon almost simultaneously and within a second, two guns were pointed at each other. 

She locked eyes with him. 'You know, there are only a few paths that we street rats can take right?' 

He gave a single nod. 'You are employed by the government.' 

She returned his nod. All this while, their hands never wavered. 

'You look well.' he stated, referring to the slinky red dress that hugged her curves. 

'Occupational hazard. But you don't look half bad either.' The tuxedo that he donned was sophisticated, and definitely expensive. 

It had been minutes since their guns were drawn. Her arms were trembling, yet her gun never wavered. He felt an alien wave of pride surge through him. She had been well-trained. But despite her thorough training, he noted that she still did not possess mastery over her expressions and body language. He could almost feel the waves of conflict rolling off her. 

He patiently waited. He knew she would break. Like a tiger waiting for its prey to come down from the tree, he silently watched till she finally did. 

'I...I can't.' she finally croaked. 

'Can't what?' He prodded in his deep cool voice. 

'Can't do this. Any of it. There is no choice, can't you see?' Traces of her desperation were creeping out. 

He knew what she meant. As the target of intelligence agencies, he was not ignorant of their practices. Failure to complete a mission meant death, or a future akin to it. It was something that he was familiar with too. 

There were in a zugzwang. She had to protect the target by eliminating the hostile. He had to complete the mission by assassinating the target. There was no escape too -- both Russia and Scorpia were not known for their mercy. 

'Yassen...' Raw with emotion, she pleaded. 'Help me.'

And for once in his life, Yassen found himself helpless. 

'How...can I help?' 

She smiled bitterly. 'End this. Just make it stop.' Her arm fell limply to her side and the gun clattered when it hit the floor. 

All it would take was the familiar pull of a trigger. This he could certainly do. But suddenly, his fingers were as heavy as lead. There had to be some other way out of this. There was no way things could end like that. It wasn't right. No, things should not end like that. 

'I...' he tried pressing his finger down again, but he somehow stopped short. 'I...can't.' 

She laughed, though he swore he saw tears glistening in her eyes. Her heels clicked as she took several strides forward till she was a meter away from him. 

She paused directly in front of his barrel. A second later, she deliberately extended her arms out and slowly drew him into a hug. 

His entire body was on edge and his gun followed her head, but he found his other arm resting on her shoulders, drawing her close. He felt her chest heave and knew that drops of saline water were staining his tuxedo. 

'Anna.' he uttered and the ten minutes of the embrace were spent in muffled silence. 

Alas, she broke apart from him and faced him. Tear tracks still stained her cheeks, yet when she smiled, he could feel absolute joy and sincerity. 

'Yassen. Thank you. For always looking out for me. Protecting me.' Her hand reached towards his ginger hair and she pressed her lips towards his. Once again, every nerve in his body screamed at him, but he found his lips moving against hers. 

As it got more heated, old passions were stirred up. He felt himself getting pulled in by a magnetic force, deeper, and deeper until she pulled apart. And with her face shining, she smiled once more. 

'I love you, Yassen.' 

And then she pulled the trigger.

**Author's Note:**

> It was a bit weird posting this. On one hand, I've changed so much from my 17 year old self. I don't believe in killing off females and letting them be all meek and emotional anymore. But at the same time, I still see strength in Anna somehow. And I definitely understanding wanting to end it all sometimes. But who knows, I'll continue working on developing myself and my writing.


End file.
